Mass Effect: The Four Choices
by TC-Mange
Summary: Commander Shepard returns from Eden Prime, spoke to the council, and looks for evidence agents their top agent. But before he starts looking, a group of four have entered the story. Are they agents of the traitor, Saren? Or are they friendly, and want to help Shepard save the galaxy? But the biggest question of all- Who are they?
1. Prologue: The Beacon

**Authors note: This is my first attempt at a fanfiction story, so please bear with me if I make a typo here or there. There will be a disclaimer at the bottom, but I want to be clear beforehand; I do not own Mass Effect in any way, shape or form. It's owned only by Bioware, who have made this Awesome game Trilogy. Thank you, guys at Bioware, and I hope there is more on the way.**

Location: Eden Prime

Commander aims his rifle and takes down the last geth trooper, and calls all clear. Seconds later, he was flanked by Lt Kaiden Alenko and Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams. As Shepard radios his ship, the SSV Normandy, to pick them up, Alenko and Williams approach the pulsating Prothean Beacon.

"This is amazing." Alenko said. "Actual working Prothean technology. Unbelievable!"

Williams looks at the Beacon. "It wasn't doing anything like that when they dug it up." She said. "Something must have activated it."

As she moved closer to inspect the faint, pulsating glow emanating from the device. Suddenly, The Beacon glows brighter, and starts to pull her closer to it. Shepard see her moving to it, and runs to her, catching her just as she started to float off the ground, and throwing her away from the Beacon. Unfortunately, now the Beacons pulls Shepard in and pulls him up and off the ground.

"SHEPARD!" Williams cries, as she tries to move to help Shepard only to be stopped by Alenko. "No! Don't touch him! It's too dangerous" He yells. They can only watch Shepard float in front of the Beacon, as images, both horrible and painful, flash through his mind as the Beacon glows brighter. Then, in an instant, Shepard received the last few images, and the Prothean Beacon exploded, pushing Shepard away and knocking him out. Alenko and Williams rush to his side, raising the Normandy to come to their location...

* * *

Location: Unknown

A woman's omni-tool beeps and a message pops up.

"What is it, Xera?" A male voice called to her. The woman, Xera, looks at him and says, "Another Beacon has been activated."

"Already? We just got back from the last Jump." A third voice said, followed by a fourth. "I'll look into it, Xera. Is it a man or woman this time?"

"A man, a soldier. He's a colonist and a war hero." The fourth voice pondered, then nodded. "Okay, I'll head to the Citadel and wait for him." As he moves away, Xera called out, "Let us know when we should come around! Good luck, Xylos!"

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**Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect or any game, movie, or object owned by Bioware. This AU series is mine, but everything else belongs to Bioware, and all companies associated with Bioware in the making of the game trilogy.**


	2. Chapter 1-1 Quarian in Distress

Location: Citadel, Near C-Sec HQ

The man, Xylos, stood around and waited for Shepard to arrive. He knew what Shepard would have to do, and that he would have to walk through the area. Looking around, he saw a fight brewing between a human and a Quarian. He sighed and walked over and stood in between them.

"Whoa whoa! Whats going on?" He shouted over both of them.

The human glared at him and growled, "Beat it, buddy. This doesn't concern you."

The Quarian, a girl who looked like she was in her 20s, scoffed and said, "I'll tell you whats going on. I have a breach in my suit and a growing infection, and I was walking to the clinic nearby. Next thing, this xenophobic bosh'tet just grabbed my arm and pushed me over, calling me a suit-rat and a groveling thief."

Xylos sighed. _**Xenophobia,**_ he thought. **_The Galaxy would be better off without it_**_. _

_"_Qaurians are nothing more than petty thieves, and should not be on the Citadel." The human pointed a finger at her mask. "Go back to your gutter, suit-rat. You or your kind don't belong he-"

The statement was interrupted by the sound of three blows landing. Xylos hit him, first in the man's gut, followed by a punch to the nose, and finally an elbow to the back of the neck. All three hits landed within the span of a second, and the man was on the ground, unconscious, before the first or second registered in his mind.

The quarian watched the blows land, and as soon the man was on the ground, she looked at the stranger and started to shiver in fear. But instead of what she thought as a follow-up attack on her, he looked at her and smiled and asked, "Are you alright?"

She looked taken aback at the question and said, "Y-yes. I am fine. Thank you."

He shook his head and looked down at the man in disgust. "I don't like xenophobia. There is no point to it, other than making people like him feel a little superior to other species." He looked back at her and said, "Please don't hate all humans for the actions of one human. Not all of us are like him."

He smiled at her, and she felt her heart skip a beat.**_ He's kind of handsome_**, she thought. She shook her head at the thought and coughed, remembering what she was doing. "I'm sorry, but I must find the clinic."

He nodded and said, "I'll escort you, for when other people like this guy have a bone to pick with you. Come on, it's not far." At that he turned on his heel and walked in the direction of the clinic, with the quarian following behind him. He stopped suddenly then said, "Oh! I'm sorry. My name is Xylos. And you are...?"

She looked at him and said, "My is Tali. Tali'zorah nar Rayya. Good to meet you."

He smiled at her again, and assumed she was doing the same under her mask. "It's good to meet you too, Tali'zorah. Now then, the clinic is this way." He said, resuming his walk, with Tali beside him...

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**_This chapter is a two-part piece, so I will be posting the second piece in a little while. I am sorry if the chapters aren't that long, but still, I hope you enjoy it. Leave a review if you like this chapter, or if you wanna give me some pointers, or if you wanna point out something wrong. I'm open to all three. Till then, TC-MANGE OUT!_**


	3. Chapter 1-2 Meeting Xerok

Location: Chora's Den

Shepard walked out of the bar, with Alenko and Williams right behind her. He just finished talking to a drunk Harkin, and the experienced left a sour taste in his mouth.

"That guy was and ass." Williams said.

Shepard and Alenko looked at her in surprised, but then Shepard started laughing.

"That's what I was thinking." he said. "Okay, where to first? Harkin says Garrus is probably at the clinic, and Barla Von says the krogan mercenary is at C-Sec."

"Let's head to C-Sec first. Having a krogan on our side might be helpful."

"Good point, gunny. C-Sec it is." Shepard said and led the way to C-Sec headquarters...

Location: Clinic

Xylos stood outside while the clinic doctor checked Tali out. His omni-tool beeped, and he answer, "Xylos."

_"This is Xera. Xerok and Zeron wanna know when we can come in."_

Xylos thought for a moment, then said, "If you guys want to, then come in then."

There was a long pause before she spoke again.

_"Done. We're here. What's the plan?"_

"Xera, I want you at the alley by the markets, Xerok at C-Sec, and Zeron with Garrus, if possible. Get into your positions. Shepard will be with you guys within the next hour."

_"Got it. Xera out."_

He turned of his omni-tool just as Tali walked out.

"Xylos? Who were you talking to? I thought I heard someone."

Oh, I was talking to my sister on my omni. She called to check in on me.

Tali looked at him, and he assumed she was smiling.

"Your sister checks to see if you are okay?"

"She likes to make sure that I'm still breathing. How did it go?"

"Dr. Michel gave me some antibiotics to stop the imfection. I am all better now."

Xylos smiled at her, and Tali felt her heart skip a beat again. _**He's really handsome**_, she thought. She quickly looked him over. He was a little taller than her, slim with muscles, brown-blond hair set in a crew cut, and brown eyes with a little green in them.

She came back to reality when Xylos waved a hand in front of her, asking, "Tali, you okay in there?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry. I was thinking about something. N-not that I was trying to ignore! No, I wouldn't do that. I-I mean-"

"Whoa whoa, Tali! Hahahaha, settle down a little."

She nodded and closed her mouth.

"Now that you aren't in danger of an infection, is there anything you need or want to do, anywhere you wanna go?"

Then she remembered. Fist.

"W-well, I have to go talk to Fist, the owner of Chora's Den"

"Okay. Lets go say hi."

With that, they both headed away from the clinic to the bar by the lower markets. Little did they know, Shepard was at the bottom of the steps by the clinic, heading to C-Sec

Location: C-Sec HQ

Shepard and his team stepped off the elevator to hear yelling.

"If you don't back off, me and my friend are gonna get violent!"

They looked left to see a krogan in red merc armor, and a human beside him, standing chest to chest to the guard.

The guard looked at the man. "You want me to arrest you and the krogan?"

The man smiled, but the smile didn't reach his eyes. "You willing to risk trying?"

The man then looked right and looked right at shepard. "Commander Shepard."

The krogan looked at Shepard, as the guard turned and saluted the commander.

The guard glared at the man, then left him and the krogan to Shepard, as he walked up to them.

"Who are you, and why were giving that guard grief?"

The man smiled and held out his hand. "The name's Xerok, and I was giving that guy grief because he was giving my friend here grief."

Shepard shook his hand then looked at the krogan. "I'm trying to take down Saren. Barla Von said to talk to you."

The krogan looked between the man, Xerok, then Shepard. "The name is Urdnot Wrex, and Barla Von is a wise man. We may share a common goal, Shepard."

"Enlighten me."

Wrex approached Shepard, as Williams and Alenko slowly dropped a hand to their pistols, just in case something went wrong.

"I've been hired me to kill the owner of Chora's Den, a mand named Fist. He did something very stupid."

Shepard folded his arm and smirked. "Let me guess. He betrayed the Shadow Broker."

He nodded. "A quarian showed up on the Citadel, on the run. She wanted to trade info for a place to hide, so she went to Fist. He promised to set up a meet between her and the S.B., but called Saren instead."

"Big mistake on his part."

"He's just greedy. Saren paid Fist a small fortune for the quarian. He had to, she's got the evidence connecting Saren to the Geth."

Alenko chipped into the converstation. "If shes got the evidence that proves Saren's a traitor, we gotta find her."

Shepard nodded then looked back at Wrex. "Where's the quarian now?"

"Last I heard, Fist still had her, probably somewhere inside his club. You help me take down Fist, she's all yours."

Shepard held out his hand, and Wrex shook it. "Welcome aboard, Wrex.

Williams thought for a moment the said, "What about Garrus, the turian? He want's to take down Saren too."

Shepard nodded, "He might come in handy later."

That's when Xerok spoke up. "You just missed him then, Commander. Garrus Vakarian was here a few minutes ago, saying he was gonna follow up on a lead at the medical clinic nearby."

"Got it, We'll go get Garrus, then head to Fist. You coming too, Xerok?"

Xerok smiled at Shepard. "If you think you can put up with me, Shepard."

Shepard then shook Xerok's hand, welcoming him to the crew too. Then the group left to the clinic...

Location: Clinic

Shepard and his group arrived to see Garrus and thugs having a firefight in the middle of the clinic. Before he could join the fight, Shepard swore he could hear beeping. Just then, a section of the clinics roof blew up and broke apart, and a man jumped down through the hole.

All in the clinic looked at him, and watched as he stood up, looked at everyone in the room, as if counting everyone, then activated an omi-blade and attacked the thugs at lightning speed. At that, then Shepard at his team joined the fight...


	4. Chapter 2: The Whole Family

Location: Med Clinic

The man stood above the clinic, setting the controlled charge. He had to work fast; the firefight inside the clinic had just started, and listening to the gunfire, there were more than there usually was. Finishing, he stood back and set off the charge. As soon as he saw the flash of light, he turned on his adrenaline rush and jumped through the hole.

As he landed, he stood and, after counting how many hostile and friendlies were in the room, he activated his omni-blade and rushed the hostile. Still in his adrenaline rush, he slashed down 3 within 3 seconds, and hearing feet behind him, grabbed one of the thugs gun before it hit the ground, turned on his heel and shot down the 2 thugs behind them. It was that moment, that the friendlies in the room, being Commander Shepard and his team, Garris, and Xerox.

To Shepard's point of view, he walked in and was about to help Garrus against 12 thugs, when part of the roof blew up. Then a man dropped down, activated his blade and rushed the thugs. he took down 5 in 6 seconds. His team the rushed in and helped take down the rest.

As soon as the hostiles were terminated, Xerok broke off and walked to the stranger, and stood chest to chest with him. The others lookes at them, and thinking they were going to fight, started lifting their weapons at the two. But then a strange noise stopped them...laughter. Xerok and the stranger were laughing, as if they shared the funniest joke. Then Xerok spoke.

"Damn Zeron, you are, without a doubt, the craziest son of a bitch I know."

The man Zeron laughed. "Yeah, and you are still the ugliest son of a bitch I know."

Xerok laughed and bro-hugged the man, and the man bro-hugged him back. Shepard, standing and watching with the others, cleared his thoat to get their attention. The two looked over at him, then he spoke.

"Okay, so what the hel was that and who is this?"

Xerok looked at Zeron then back at Shepard and said casually, "This is my brother, Zeron."

Shepard looked surprised. The two didn't look much alike. Xerok was taller then him, bigger muscles, short brown-black hair, and brown eyes with a little...red? Zeron looked slightly shorter then Shepard, same muscle build. black hair cut in a army style haircut, and hazel brown eyes. Shepard discarded the thought, and looked back to Garrus.

"You almost shot the hostage when we walked in! What were you thinking?"

Garrus looked suprised. "I-Ididnt have time to think about it. I just-*sigh* Dr. Michel, are you alright?"

As they talked to the doctor, Xerok looked at Zeron. "Where's the others? Do you know?"

Zeron shook his head at the question. "No, you are the first I've seen since arriving. Xera must be waiting in the alley, but I dont know where Xylos is."

As they thought, Shepard walked over to them and said, "We got Garrus, now we're goin to Fist." He looked at Zeron. "Wanna come along?"

Zeron looked at Shepard then shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

Location: Chora's Den

Xylos stood and waited for Tali to finish with Fist. He listened to the music. **_It sounds like Daft Punk, a little bit._** He thought, just as Tali walked out past him. "Everything okay, Tali?"

She looked surprised, like she forgot he was there. "O-oh, Xylos. I am going to a meeting with the Shadow Broker."

Xylos shook his head at the statement and said, "No one meets the Shadow Broker, Tali. He deals through agents, not in person. Fist tricked you." Tali looked at him, to see if he was lying, but he wasn't. She shook with anger, and turned around to go back in, but Xylos grabbed her arm and stopped her. "Hang on. Think about it. Fist thinks you're not gonna see this and will call mercs to take care of you. We can tae care of the mercs, then come back and surprise him."

Tali thought about it, and nodded. They then left the bar to head to the meeting place. It didn't take long to get there, but as they got there, Xylos saw a glint in the rafters above. Looking up, he could faintly see the barrel of a sniper rifle. Knowing what, know _who _it was, he continued to walk, but he put his hands behind his back. As Tali and Xylos stopped, Xylos made quick hand signals to the person hiding in the rafters. He heard a faint click, like the sound of a bullet being put in the magazine, and he knew that the messege was recieved.

Tali and Xylos waited for around 20 minutes before a couple of mercs, led by a turian, showed up. The turian looked at him in disgust. "Beat it, human. My business here is with quarian."

Tali stepped up and looked him in the eyes. "I know the truth. Neither Fist or the Shadow Broker are coming. The deal's off."

The turian looked at her, then signaled to the salarian mercs nearby. Just as Tail was about to throw a grenade, a shot was fired, and a big hole appeared in on of the mercs heads. Before the other could react, the same happened to him. The other mercs and the turian looked around the sniper, but couldn't find them.

Before anything else could happen, Shepard and his team arrived. Xerok took the advantage to show off; he jumped from the top of the stairs and when he landed, he let out a powerful shockwave that took out the rest of the mercs.

As everyone got together, Shepard looked at Xerok. "You didn't tell us you were a biotic."

Xerok smirked. "Haha, you didn't ask."

Xylos stepped foward. "Alright, quit clowning around, Xerok." He then looked up and called out. "You can come out now, Xera! All hostile forces terminated."

Sllence, then another shot fired. Everyone flinched, then turned around to see an injured merc creeping up behind Tali, fall over dead. Then Xera jumped down and landed at the top of the stairs and smiled at Xylos. "NOW all hostile forces terminated." Then Xylos, Xera, Xerok and Zeron stood next to eachother and laughed. Everyone else just stared at them.

Shepard was at a loss for words. Four strangers, one after the other show up, capable of doing amazing things to the enemies. And somehow Shepard found them and recruited them? **_What is going on here?_** He thought.

Xylos looked at Shepard, then smiled. "Commander Shepard, Hero of Elysium. I think I know how to repay you for helping out with this mess, and for reuniting me with my brothers and sister." He looked over at Tali. "Tali, these are my siblings and this Commander Shepard. They are friends, and it just so happens that Shepard needs to find evidence and against Saren."

Tali looked at Shepard and said, "Then I have a way to repay you, Commander." Garrus thought for a moment then said, "We should take her to te human embassy. We can present the evidence there." Shepard nodded and the group started for the presidium, when a thought struck Shepard. _**Who are these guys...And how did he know my mission? I didn't explain anything to him...**_


	5. Chapter 3: Nightmare on Normandy

Location: Normandy

Shepard sighed as he laid down on his bed, and stared at the ceiling. He thought about all that happened today; he recruited a krogan, turian, quarian, became the first human spectre and was placed in command of the Normandy. And four humans who showed up out of nowhere, all wanting to help Shepard with his fight with Saren. When he asked them where they came from, all their responses were the same.

**_It's not important, you wouldn't believe us anyway._**

But Shepard just shook his head and decided to get some sleep...

_Dream_

_"Choose"_

_Shepard bolted upright, sitting on a cold, metal floor. He looked around, not recognizing where he is. He looked up and saw a giant machine tear through an Alliance dreadnought like it wasn't even there. A minute later, a multitude of ships opened fire on the machine, and destroyed it._

_"Choose"_

_That word again. He looked behind him and saw three figures standing a few feet apart. He turned again and saw a fourth standing there, armor all but broken to pieces, and bleeding in several places. He stood up and looked around; behind the four there were walkways._

_One led behind the woman of the four, to a weird set of machinery, with handles in front of the machinery. The woman herself looked strange. The same machinery behind her looked as though it was laced into her armor and skin, and what threw him off was her eyes; the whites of her eyes were midnight black and her pupils glowed a dull blue. _

_Turning around, the path behind the broken-looking man led to what looked like a lift to a lower level. The man himself looked ragged; a broken set of armor, blood coming from cracks of his armor and from his face, an empty Carnifex heavy pistol in his left hand, and an active omni-blade variant on his right, and his eyes looked cold, ruthless, even lifeless._

_Turning left, he faced another man, the path behind him leading to what looked like a reactor of some sort. The man looked fine, compared to the other male, except his amor and his face looked burnt, as if the reactor behind him blew up and he was caught in the explosion. His eyes, like the womans, glowed as well, but they glowed a dull red._

_The last man, who stood between the machine-laced woman and the burnt man, stood in spotless armor, but the only thing different was what looked like a green glow that moved from his left leg, all the way up to his face, where Shepard stared into his glowing green eyes. The path behind him led to a large energy beam that led up to a big piece of machinery above him._

_They all spoke at once. "Choose"_

_Shepard went to say, "Choose what?" but no sound came out. He had no voice. He tried and tried, but no words he said had any sound in them._

_The figures looked straight at him and said in a strange, deep, metallic voice. "__**SO BE IT!**__"_

_Then quick as a flash, their faces changed. They looked like husks, like the ones from Eden Prime. They howled and ran to Shepard. _

_It was in that moment that Shepard then found his voice again, but in the form of a scream..._

Awake

The scream followed him, as he screamed for a second when he awoke from the nightmare. He looked around, and sighed in relief when he say he was back in his quarters on the Normandy. He sat there for a moment, trying to think about that dream, but he couldn't remember parts of it. "**_What the hell was that?_**" he thought.

He shrugged, "**_Later_**." and got up and headed up to the CIC to plot their next course. He had recruited a krogan, turian, quarian, and four humans. It was time to add an asari to the list...


	6. Chapter 4-1: Big Bug on Therum

Location: Normandy Cargo Bay

Shepard got off the elevator, armored up and ready, making a beeline straight to the M-35 Mako. Looking to his left, he sees Wrex and Garrus getting ready to go with Shepard. Then looking in the left corner of the bay, (corner by the doors, leading to the drive core), he sees the Four, as they call themselves, cleaning their armor and weapons. Xylos, however, looks like he's ready to go with Shepard. He looks up at Shepard, with a look that said, **_I'm coming with you, so smile and nod._** Shepard looked at him, then nodded towards the Mako. Xylos then smirked at him then got up and walked to the vehicle.

"So you coming with us, Xylos?" Garrus asked, seeing Xylos walk over.

Xylos nodded. "That's the fact, Jack."

Garrus just stared at him before he amended, "Old, stupid human saying. Don't worry about it."

Garrus just nodded and got into the Mako, getting up into the turret.

Xylos looked over at Wrex, then smirked. "Bet ya 100 credits we find geth down there."

Wrex chuckled. "You're on, human."

Location: Therum Surface

After fighting through many geth, the group pile out of the Mako and head through the narrow path in front of them. At a signal from Shepard, Xylos and Garrus took point, then signaled Shepard and Wrex. Shortly after, geth come down from a hill and a battle starts. Garrus takes out the snipers, as Shepard, Wrex and Xylos take out the ground support. While fighting, Shepard kept an eye on Xylos, seeing how well he kept cool during combat. Comparing this Xylos to the one he met before, it was like he was a completely person in combat. He was brought back to reality when a shot fired too close to his head and proceeded to gun down the geth that shot at him.

Wrex saw it and bellowed, "Shepard! Keep you head in the game here, pyjak!"

Shepard nodded, and the four proceeded to fight the rest of the geth forces.

Moments later, They approached the digsite. But before they could start looking for Dr. Liara T'soni, more geth dropped in, along with an armature, a large insect-like tank that fires strong ion blasts. Taking cover, the group quickly took care of the geth rocket troopers and sappers, but had trouble on the armature itself.

"Those shields are a problem here Shepard!" Wrex yelled out.

Shepard glares at him. "I know Wrex!"

Xylos yelled out, "Knock it off, both of you! In case you forgot, we've got a giant damn robot shooting at us!"

Taking the initiative, Xylos broke cover and sprinted ahead to a closer cover, shooting a carnage shot at the armature. It turned to follow him, and it gave the others the opening they needed, as they shot everything they had into the armature. That worked, as the armature fell over, dead and riddled with so many rounds. After that, Shepard nodded at Xylos, who nodded back, then the group head down into the dig site. They still had a doctor to find...

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_**TC-MANGE here. Sorry about the delays, people. I've been a little bit busy later, but I'll be posting the second off of this chapter very soon. And if you have any questions on The Four, who are they, what they look like, their backgrounds, feel free to ask. Keep in mind though, I probably won't reveal much on their backgrounds, as it might count as spoilers. So hope you like this story so far, and I'll post more soon.**_

_**Until then,  
TC-MANGE OUT!**_


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